With midseason transfer business usually dragging until the end of the term, the club endeavour to continue vetting targets. Lately we’ve heard Leon Best from Coventry – scorer of a wonder goal v Pompey in their FA Cup replay earlier this week – and Wes Hoolahan of Norwich, an assiduous winger, ideal as a replacement for Adam Johnson should he naff off to Sunderland or Everton. Throw in a spot of QPR’s Wayne Routledge and you have enough chum to hold the baying mob, temporarily at least. Though descriptions of old Wayne as a ‘combo midfielder who can play upfront’ invoke inherent hatred derived from similar failed experiments – see exhibits Aliadiere, Emnes, and/or Tuncay.

Collectively, it’s enough to stimulate hope. There’s a distinct outline in the new vision – more spine, steel, focus, and discipline – less faffing about w/ pretty passing and precision movement, because we simply haven’t the resources or personnel to implement it. And Gordon Strachan keeps getting managerial work not just for his acerbic wit, but because his austere system that emphasises grinding and plodding and fighting really does work.

Leroy Lita was rewarded for a recent spell of good performances with 2 goals – Gary O’Neil, Mark Yeates and Dave Kitson rounded off the scoring. Yeatsie was simply awesome filling in for Adam Johnson – unable to travel to London due to a serious family illness – with his indefatigability. Pilloried for being out of his depths at this level, this was a shift emblematic of his committed approach so desired and appreciated earlier this season. For Kitson, it’s 3 in 2 games, and understandably the club is focusing considerable effort on trying to extend the Stoke City strikers loan. Expect a Save Our Promotion Ginger Retention Scheme to take off any moment now.

The fiver of goals means extended notes from the match:

• QPR were wasteful early – dominated large spells, primarily w/ north London loanees Adel Taarabt (Spurs) and Jay Simpson (Arsenal)
• Fine first half for Yeates – rattled crossbar, earned the free kick leading to the first goal, and surged forward with regularity
• Lita and Kitson really building on what they enjoyed when at Reading – linked up to create good scoring chances – a redux of the Yak and Duke days when opposing managers were quick in the postgame pressers to admit our strikers were hard to handle?
• Second week running that we have an iron-clad pen waived off??!
• Good stuff from Radek Cerny – former Spurs man has worked hard to deny great scoring chances in the first half – Boro could easily have more than 1
• We get that penalty early in the second half – QPR handles it in a busy box – Lita emphatically dispatches it and promptly gets carded for stripping and taunting the QPR dugout
• 2 goal lead lasted mere moments – more capitulation?
• LL gets his brace – Yeates unlocked the striker for his second goal on 60 minutes
• Arca almost gets the 4^th – multiple bites of the apple for the Argey repelled by Cerny – another QPR hand ball infringement goes unnoticed
• Wayne Routledge blows a golden chance for a QPR lifeline – Jonesey commits his most egregious error of the match but gets away with it
• Lita searching for the hat trick – piledrives the woodwork and GON tucks away – 4-1 Boro
• Tough love shown to Didier Digard before replacing GON – GS2 reported extra firm to his Frenchman before the match too
• Yeatsie selfishly gets his for the 5^th as Boro bag the points!!
• Gary Gill MOM: Leroy Lita

Absolutely chuffed w/ the result – Blackpool on Tuesday – more later…